International Monetary Fund (IMF) likely to Issue an International Cryptocurrency

As per the latest reports coming from Wall Street Journal, International Monetary Fund (IMF) is considering options to issue a globally accepted International Cryptocurrency. With the sudden surge in the global acceptance of the Blockchain technologywhich caters to virtual digital currencies, reputed financial institutions and banks are closely observing the shift in momentum.

The blockchain technology for cryptocurrencies allows users for transacting/sending money across international borders by bypassing banks, as a result of which, such transactions involve very little processing fees even for huge sums of digital money transferred.

The recent consideration of IMF comes after a statement by chief Christine Lagarde saying that banks and financial institutions should not completely ignore or denounce cryptocurrencies and the new form of virtual digital currencies can very much give banks a “run for their money”.

“Instead of adopting the currency of another country – such as the US dollar – some of these economies might see a growing use of virtual currencies. Call it dollarization 2.0. So in many ways, virtual currencies might just give existing currencies and monetary policy a run for their money. The best response by central bankers is to continue running effective monetary policy while being open to fresh ideas and new demands, as economies evolve.”

Lagarde pointed to the fact that financial institutions should respect the change in consumer preference for new virtual digital currencies which is “safer and easier” for consumers in comparison to the existing traditional systems.

All this makes us to safely assume that International Monetary Fund could be having its own globally accepted cryptocurrency in replacement to Dollar. Moreover, with a sudden surge in the blockchain hype banks have also started supporting state-issued cryptocurrencies with the Dubai government proactively taking the first step in this direction.

However, this all points out to the fact that one of the major difficulties involved will be the centralization factor. The major USP of the Blockchain technology currently is its decentralized protocol which fosters a free-floating market which is driven purely by consensus without any sort of price fixing.

Some supporters of Bitcoin and the decentralized blockchain technology are saying that there is no need of any such international cryptocurrency from IMF which involve any sort of centralization risks.

It seems that for things to go smooth and transparent and in the larger interest of investors, supporters of both sides need to arrive at a common platform for a health adoption of this new shift in global economy.